ckr1969,
I guess you're dumber than you sound so I'll tell you how I heard both I took my 861 down to the dealer who sells Burmeister and I let my 861 warm up for a couple hours and then we put it up against the 218 stereo to stereo not bridged monoblock to bridged monoblock, and the background was a lot blacker with the 861 and the fine details in the background we're much clearer and more airy and spacious and also the bass was tighter faster and more articulate with the 861, and I even brought my OCC rectangular cables which are far superior to anything OFC at any price on the market to use in both systems, so I'm glad you like wasting money and spending another $50,000 on another 218 but you could have got two 861s for only $44,000 which would sound better so until you can compare both like I did stop flapping your gums because obviously you can't say anything about it because you haven't compared the two side by side like I have. and here's another one When amplifiers that cost $50,000 each start buzzing and the reviewer says it's still sounded good you know that reviewer is full of BS don't you lol, what a joke that review was and everybody that read it knows that stereophile is full of BS, they'll give you a good review on the amount of advertising that you buy from them.